Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

August 19, 2009: Image sensor sales will decline 11% in 2009 to $6.4B, the first decline in at least 12 years, and after a decade of 22% CAGR will settle into single-digit growth in coming years, according to a new report from Strategies Unlimited.

Like just about everything else, the image sensor sector has been dented by the macroeconomic decline, but the analysis firm says the broader slowdown in growth signals dissipation of a “perfect convergence of forces” that drove rapid growth in image sensors for camera phones. “There will still be growth in unit sales in coming years for image sensors overall, but short-term fluctuations in demand, periods of oversupply and shortage, and severe price pressure will make it more challenging to stay competitive than before,” the analysts write in their report.

Two geographic trends are worth noting. Japan still makes 90% of charge-coupled devices, which dominate digital still cameras and security cameras. But key players are bailing out: Fujifilm stopped producing image sensors for its cameras in 2007, Panasonic has stopped making CMOS arrays for camera phones, and Sony will possibly follow suit. Meanwhile, Korean and Taiwan firms are pushing hard, targeting the Chinese handset market; Samsung surged 61% from 2006-2008, Hynix jumped back into the image sensor market in late 2008, and others including SETi, SiliconFile, and PixArt Imaging are jostling for position.


Image sensor revenue, US $B — visible range area arrays and packaged linear arrays, including captive production. (Source: Strategies Unlimited)

August 18, 2009: Researchers at Johns Hopkins U. have developed a test for early-warning cancer signs using quantum dots, with potentially “huge clinical implications.”

The system, which detects both the presence and quantity of certain DNA markers in the sputum of lung cancer patients, and was found to be more sensitive and faster than conventional methods. More real-world testing is needed, but “if we continue to see exciting progress, this testing method could easily be in wide use within the next five years,” according to study co-author Stephen B. Baylin, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

The specific target of the test is DNA methylation which occurs when methyl attaches to cytosine, a DNA building block. When this happens at specific gene locations it can stop the release of tumor-suppressing proteins; cancer cells then more easily form and multiply. Finding this gene DNA methylation, are thus seen as having a higher risk of developing cancer. It’s also seen as a warning sign of cancer-precursor genetic mutations.

The researchers’ detection method involves singling out the DNA strands with methyl attachments through “bisulfite conversion,” whereby all non-methyl segments are converted into another nucleotide. Copies of the remaining DNA strands are made, two molecules (a biotin protein and a fluorescent dye) are attached at either end, and the strands are mixed with quantum dots that are coated with a biotin-attractive chemical. Up to 60 DNA strands are attracted to a single quantum dot. A UV light or blue laser activates the dots, which pass the energy to the fluorescent molecules on the DNA strands which then light up and are identifiable via a spectrophotometer, which both identifies and can count the DNAN methylation.


In this illustration by Yi Zhang, quantum dots are depicted as gold spheres that attract DNA strands linked to cancer risks. When the quantum dots are exposed to certain types of light, they transfer the energy to fluorescent molecules, shown as pink globes, that emit a glow. This enables researchers to detect and count the DNA strands linked to cancer. (Source: Johns Hopkins)

Results, described in the paper published in the August issue of the journal Genome Research:

Key features of MS-qFRET include its low intrinsic background noise, high resolution, and high sensitivity. This approach detects as little as 15 pg of methylated DNA in the presence of a 10,000-fold excess of unmethylated alleles, enables reduced use of PCR (as low as eight cycles), and allows for multiplexed analyses.

Implications for the procedure include the ability to more frequently screen for cancer, replacing “traditionally more invasive” methods with a simple blood test, noted one of the study’s lead authors, doctoral student Vasudev J. Bailey. They could also help determine whether a cancer treatment is working, paving the way toward “personalized chemotherapy,” he added. Moreover, since different cancer types possess different genetic markers (lung cancer markers differ from leukemia, for example), the test should identify which cancer a patient is at risk of developing, the researchers note.

Johns Hopkins has applied for international patent protection covering the testing technique, and staff are “in talks” with an unnamed biotechnology company to license the application. The work is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, the Hodson Foundation, and the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute.

August 17, 2009: Carl Zeiss has introduced a software package that consolidates automatic particle detection, investigation, and characterization capabilities for its scanning electron microscopes (SEM) into one application.

The Smart Particle Investigator (SmartPI) integrates SEM control, image processing, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis for particle detection and characterization. A “border particle stitching” algorithm determines the full characteristics and measurements of an individual particle which crosses multiple fields. Images of stitched particles can easily be saved and reviewed. Automation for repetitive sample analysis provides non-subjective results with minimal user involvement; automated calibration and diagnostic procedures ensure results accuracy and system stability. Advanced stop-criteria allows early termination of the analysis if a predefined threshold is reached, reducing analysis time.

Target markets for SmartPI include manufacturing (e.g. cleanliness, quality control), wear analysis and failure prediction (e.g., oil analysis of jet engines), geological survey/mining, forensics, and environmental monitoring.


X-ray analysis and chemical classification of filtered particles from manufacturing cleanliness monitoring in the automotive industry. The major features of the X-ray spectrum indicate that the source of this contamination is derived from a bearing steel. (Source: Carl Zeiss)

August 17, 2009: Researchers at IBM and the California Institute of Technology say they have come up with a “breakthrough” to solve various problems looming for future semiconductor manufacturing beyond the 22nm node: a combination of lithographic patterning and self-assembly that arranges DNA structures on surfaces compatible with current manufacturing equipment.

DNA origami, they explain, involves folding a long single strand of viral DNA using shorter, synthetic “staple” strands, which they claim display 6nm-resolution patterns, and could “in principle” be used to arrange carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowires, or quantum dots. Making the starting structures, though, depends on an “uncontrolled deposition” which “results in random arrangements” whose properties are difficult to measure, and to integrate with microcircuitry.

Their approach, detailed in the September issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is to use e-beam lithography and dry oxidative etch to create DNA origami-shaped binding sites on certain materials such as SiO2 and “diamond-like” carbon. Caltech’s techniques for preparing the DNA origami structure cause single DNA molecules to self-assemble via a reaction between the long viral DNA strand and shorter synthetic oligonucleotide strands, which fold the viral DNA strand into 2D shapes; these can be modified to be attached by nanoscale components. They tout the ability to create squares, triangles, and stars with 100-150nm dimensions on an edge, and thickness as wide as a DNA double helix. Processing work at IBM used either e-beam or optical lithography to create arrays of the “binding sites” to match those of individual origami structures; key was discovering template material and optimal deposition conditions so that the origami structures bound only to patterns of “stick patches.”


Low concentrations of triangular DNA origami are binding to wide lines on a lithographically patterned surface. (Source: IBM)

Results, from the journal paper abstract:

In buffer with approx. 100 mM MgCl2, DNA origami bind with high selectivity and good orientation: 70%-95% of sites have individual origami aligned with an angular dispersion (±1 s.d.) as low as ±10° (on diamond-like carbon) or ±20° (on SiO2).


High concentrations of triangular DNA origami binding to wide lines on a lithographically patterned surface. Inset shows individual origami structures at high resolution. (Source: IBM)

Essentially, the researchers explain, the DNA molecules act as “scaffolding,” onto which deposited carbon nanotubes would be stuck and self-assembled, at smaller dimensions than conventional semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. “The combination of this directed self-assembly with today’s fabrication technology eventually could lead to substantial savings in the most expensive and challenging part of the chip-making process,” said Spike Narayan, manager of science & technology at IBM’s Almaden (CA) research center, in a statement.


Individual triangular DNA origami are adhering to a template with properly sized triangular features. (Source: IBM)

August 24, 2009Researchers from Yale and the Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) say they have found a way to apply ferroelectric gate material to a DRAM cell (i.e., a FeDRAM) to create a more simply structured, highly scalable, longer-lasting and lower-power-consuming device with multibit storage capabilities comparable to flash memory.

Work to develop FeDRAM devices that eliminate the need for a memory cell capacitor isn’t new, but Yale researchers note they’ve got data showing properties that could “produce meaningful cost and performance benefits to global DRAM makers and their customers,” according to Yale prof. T.P. Ma, in a statement. With FeDRAM a device can be programmed and erased by a gate voltage pulse; charge retention is >1× longer than conventional DRAM requiring much less refreshing. Cell structure is similar to a CMOS transistor with a circuit architecture similar to flash memory, so it’s manufacturable with existing fabrication techniques and toolsets. And it seems to be very scalable, something existing DRAM technology is not due to storage capacitance in a given area, added Kwok Ng, director of device sciences at SRC. “We see the potential for greater scalability with FeDRAM, extending the benefits well into the future,” he noted.

The Yale/SRC work will continue toward demonstrating FeDRAM cells, simple building block circuits, and pathways for scaling, with optimism for production readiness but in an unclarified “foreseeable future.”

August 14, 2009: Standards body ASTM International has updated its guidelines for a common technique to measure nanoparticles in solutions, to now include statistically evaluated data on the measurement precisions achieved by a wide variety of laboratories.

The study, organized by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Cancer Institute’s Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory, looks at data from 26 different laboratories to provide a benchmark for measuring sizes and size distribution of nanoparticles suspended in fluids, a measurement especially key in bio applications such as cancer therapies where nanoparticle sizes affect cell response, according to NIST materials researcher Vince Hackley, according to a press release. One of these is photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) or dynamic light scattering, in which a laser beam is passed through a solution, and its scattered light fluctuations measured; that, plus knowing parameters such as the fluid’s viscosity and temperature, can come up with size values for the particles.

That’s the type of work the ATSM standard E2490 aims to support, states Hackley. “The study really assesses, in a sense, how well people can apply these techniques given a fairly well-defined protocol and a well-defined material,” he says. Key is to start with a “well-defined material,” a task helped by NIST’s own recently released standard for biomed research, targeting gold nanoparticles.

The new study requires labs to measure particle size distribution in five samples (three from NIST reference materials and two dendrimer solutions), using not only PCS but also electron- and atomic-force microscopy. Results were factored into precision and bias tables that are now a part of the ASTM standard.

August 12, 2009: With economic pressure on so many firms, and a not insignificant number folding in various industries, here’s some rare positive news: Arrowhead Research Corp., a firm with subsidiaries involved in carbon nanotubes and bioscience/medicine, has regained compliance with NASDAQ regulations requiring at least $2.5M in equity.

Key to the bounceback was a recent partnership for subsidiary Calando Pharmaceuticals, which applies self-assembling nanoparticles to therapeutic use of RNA interference, in addition to revised cost-controlled operations, noted Arrowhead president/CEO Christopher Anzalone, in a statement.

August 12, 2009: Paul Weiss, nanotech scientists and recent editor of two nanotech-sector journals, has been named director of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, for a five-year term. Coming from Penn State, his group’s work will focus on atomic-scale chemical, physical, optical, mechanical, and electronic properties of surfaces and supramolecular assemblies.

Leonard H. Rome, the CNSI’s interim director for the last two years and “played a significant role” in forging industry relationships including CNSI founding partners Abraxis BioScience, BASF, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel, will resume his previous role as associate director. Rome is also senior associate dean for research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of biological chemistry.

Weiss has published more than 200 papers and patents and has given more than 400 invited and plenary lectures, with a handful of honors and awards including ones from the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1997). He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the American Vacuum Society, and a senior member of the IEEE. His background includes postdoctoral member of the technical staff at Bell Labs (1986-1988) and a visiting scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center (1988-1989). Professorships include U. of Washington and Kyoto U. He also was senior editor of the IEEE’s Electron Device Letters (2005-2007) and founding editor-in-chief of ACS Nano (2007-present).

“Professor Weiss is a groundbreaking scientist, and we look forward to the key contributions that he and his wife, Professor Anne Andrews [newly appointed professor of psychiatry at UCLA], will make to research and education here,” said Joseph A. Rudnick, dean of the UCLA division of physical sciences, in a statement.

August 11, 2009: Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have created a platform that uses lipid-coated nanowires to build prototype bionanoelectronic devices. The work shows promise for enhancing biosensing and diagnostics tools, neural prosthetics (e.g., cochlear implants), and even future computers.

Earlier research focused on integrating biological systems with microelectronics but came up short of achieving true seamless material-level integration. The LLNL team used lipid membranes, ubiquitous in biological cells, which “form a stable, self-healing, and virtually impenetrable barrier to ions and small molecules,” the researchers note in a statement. They can also house vast numbers of protein “machines” that perform various functions from recognition, transport, and signal transduction.

In their work, published online Aug. 10 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team led by Aleksandr Noy incorporated lipid bilayer membranes into silicon nanowire transistors by covering the nanowire with a continuous lipid bilayer shell, which acted as a barrier. With the “shielded wire,” membrane pores were “the only pathway for the ions to reach the nanowire,” Noy said, enabling the nanowire device “to monitor specific transport and also to control the membrane protein.” The membrane pore could be opened and closed by changing the gate voltage of the device.


An artist’s representation of a nanobioelectronic device incorporating alamethycin biological pore. In the core of the device is a silicon nanowire (grey), covered with a lipid bilayer (blue). The bilayer incorporates bundles of alamethicin molecules (purple) that form pore channels in the membrane. Transport of protons though these pore channels changes the current through the nanowire. (Image by Scott Dougherty, LLNL)

From the abstract:

We present a versatile hybrid platform for such integration that uses shielded nanowires (NWs) that are coated with a continuous lipid bilayer. We show that when shielded silicon NW transistors incorporate transmembrane peptide pores gramicidin A and alamethicin in the lipid bilayer they can achieve ionic to electronic signal transduction by using voltage-gated or chemically gated ion transport through the membrane pores.

The work is in the early stages, the researchers note, but Noy points out that with “the creation of even smaller nanomaterials that are comparable to the size of biological molecules, we can integrate the systems at an even more localized level.”

August 10, 2009: Researchers at Brown U. are offering more evidence about the hazards involved with carbon nanotubes, showing how exposure to them might be fatal to fruit flies.

In their work, published online August 10 by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a team immersed adult Drosophila melanogaster in various carbon nanoparticles (carbon black, C60 “buckyballs,” single-walled carbon nanotubes, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes). The flies in test tube with no nanoparticles ,C60, and MWNTs climbed out “with few or no difficulties” — but the others in carbon black and SWNTs couldn’t, and died “within six to 10 hours.” Postmortem analysis revealed they were smeared with the particles “from wings to legs” (suggesting impaired movement), which clogged breathing holes (possibly causingsuffocation ) and coated their compound eyes (possibly causing blindness, so they couldn’t see the way out). “They just can’t move. It’s like a dinosaur falling into a tar pit,” Rand added.


Microscopy shows a clean foot and leg of a fruit fly (left), and a foot and leg covered with carbon nanostructures (arrows). Adhering nanostructures may have impeded movement, respiration and vision in adult flies but did not appear toxic to fly larvae that ingested it. (Source: Brown U.)

The scientists stop short, though, of saying the particles actually directly caused the flies’ deaths. This is probably partly because it may not simply the nanoparticle itself that is hazardous, but maybe its form is the key, Rand explained. Meanwhile, separate tests on Drosophila melanogaster larvae “showed no physical or reproductive effects” from eating food contaminated by the same nanoparticles. “These same compounds that were not toxic to the (fruit fly) larvae were toxic to the adults in some cases, so there may be analogies to other toxic effects from fine particles,” noted biology prof. David Rand, in a statement. He drew an analogy to the effects of working in a coal mine: “You get sick more from the effects of dust particles than from specific toxins in the dust.” The lack of impact on larvae also suggests that nanoparticles were seen stored in the flies’ tissue The work also suggests that it is not simply the nanoparticle itself that is hazardous, but maybe its form is the key, he added.

The work also shows potential environmental impact of exposure to nanoparticles. The adult flies were shown to transport and deposit carbon nanoparticles during grooming, suggesting contamination can be spread. And though two generations of the fruit fly larvae showed no ill effects from ingesting the nanoparticles, they did store some in their tissue, indicating they can be passed through the food chain.


While fly larvae appear to have ingested carbon nanostructures without harm, the nanostructures remained in their bodies through adulthood, raising questions about accumulation in the food chain. (Source: Brown U.)

Overall, the work indicates that different types of the same material (carbon) can have different effects. Future work will investigate why the flies died after exposure to varieties of carbon nanoparticles (but not others), and also test the flies’ response to nanosilver and other nanomaterials.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Superfund Research Program Grant, and the Research Seed Fund Program of Brown’s Office of Vice President for Research.